In 1967 Melvin Maxwell took the position of track and cross­country coach at Doyle
High School in Knoxville, Tennessee. Melvin had just completing his Masters
Degree at UT in the same year.

It didn't take long for Maxwell to build the Doyle cross­country program into
TSSAA state champions in the fall of 1970. Coach Maxwell's team won the 1970
Tennessee state cross­country championship with 47 points; beating second place
Memphis Frayser's 111 points.

Melvin's wife Joyce recalls that his distance runners ran before and after school, and
on Saturday and Sunday, with Melvin chasing them over country roads in his green
VW Bug (car). Joyce asks: “I wonder where he got those ideas?” Needless to say,
the team ran together during the summer months as well.

In 1974 Maxwell was awarded KIL (Knoxville Interscholastic League) Coach of the
Year honors after his Doyle H.S. team easily ran away with the KIL City­County
Championship.

Many more honors and championships followed before Melvin retired from Doyle in
1996 after 29 years of teaching, coaching and anything else the school or community
needed. He bought shoes, running attire, and meals to keep his team running.
Melvin was chief engineer in getting the Doyle track facility organized. He also was
instrumental in the construction of the Doyle gym and the football stadium.
Maxwell was always a willing official at hundreds of local meets.

Attesting to his contribution to the Doyle community, Melvin's Memorial Service
was attended by 2000 friends and former students, with a line to the service
stretching out into the church parking lot. All in attendance agreed, Melvin was a
great role model and coach to decades of students, and had a huge impact on the
community.